“I can respect that.”
“Anyway, despite all that, I’m just not sure I want to be a vampire. It seems like a long, lonely road to walk. I suppose I’ll know the moment I’m faced with the decision to breathe my last or drink from my sire.”
“Well, I hope I’m there to see that,” he said softly. He paused for a long moment. “I’d like to rephrase that.”
I nodded, sighing as I sank against his side. “I’d be more comfortable if you did.”
“So, full disclosure, I went through your kitchen drawers looking for medical supplies.”
“OK.”
“And I saw the picture.”
I blinked up at him for a long time. “Oh . . . Oh.”
He’d seen the picture—the framed four-by-six photo of me wrapped in Mathias’s long arms, cuddling in his lap while he pontificated on some point in arcane history. Whenever I felt lonely for Mathias, I put that photo out on my coffee table. I didn’t use it to remind myself of happy times. I put it out so I could see the look on my face—the total, addlepated devotion, the eagerness to please. Meanwhile, Mathias’s whole body was oriented away from me, focused entirely on the person he was talking to. I might as well have been a potted plant in his lap for all the attention he was paying me. So whenever I felt like I was forgetting my righteous rage, I would stare at it until my spleen felt like it was on fire.
I hadn’t needed that sort of aversion therapy in a long time, because I hadn’t felt longing for Mathias Northon in a long time. And I hadn’t felt the need to bolster myself against vampire relationships. I hadn’t even thought about the photo for months.
“It had his name on the back. I Googled him. Good-looking, professional guy. I could see how breaking up with him would really do a number on you.”
I lifted an eyebrow at the uncertain tone of his voice. Dick never sounded unsure of himself. He was always frighteningly smug when it came to his own merit. It was sort of funny that he was intimidated by Mathias, who was awesome on paper and yet secretly a scumbag, while Dick was so inadequate on paper but sincerely kind in person.
“It did do a number on me, but I got over it.”
“How?”
“I had a collection of friends who helped me find a new life. And when I was settled into that new life, some of those friends contacted the IT department at the college where he worked to alert them to some inappropriate material in his browser history. Colleges really frown on that sort of material showing up on their servers, even if the professor in question claims to have no knowledge of how it got there. They particularly frown on it if the material also shows up as part of a PowerPoint presentation he’s giving at a trustees luncheon.”
Dick’s jaw dropped.
“I have very talented friends,” I told him.
“So I guess that’s why you’ve never mentioned him. There was no point. You destroyed him.”
“I don’t know about that. I never followed up, but I’m not sure he works at that college anymore.”
“I need to make some calls,” he said, digging his phone out of his shirt pocket. “Because while you were unconscious, I may have made some requests of some of my friends in the Chicago area that feel like overkill now.”
“What did you do?”
Sheepishly, he admitted, “I was going to have all of his utilities shut off and then have a hundred deep-dish garlic and anchovy pizzas delivered to his house in twos for the next six months.”
“Aw . . . that’s adorable.”
“Oh, hush, so you’ve out-supervillained me one time. I was distracted by providing your vital medical care.”
I burst out laughing.
“Sometimes you make it very difficult to be your white knight,” he grumbled.
“You can try again sometime,” I told him.
“Count on it.” Dick chuckled and wrapped an arm around me. I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead against the line of his jaw. He always had the appearance of having a five o’clock shadow, but his skin was surprisingly smooth and soft. I took a deep breath, inhaling his spicy bergamot scent. The familiar smell enveloped me and sent a shudder down my spine. I gasped but covered the noise by sucking air through my teeth as if I had been shivering. I pulled the blanket up to my chin.
“Cold?”
I nodded.
“That happens sometimes with the saline,” he said, as he gently pushed me back against the arm of the sofa and climbed under the blanket with me. “Here. Shared body heat.”
“You don’t have any body heat. You’re room temperature.”
“Just snuggle up, woman.”